Switzerland Unemployment in May 2020: rose to 3.4percent, seasonally adjusted rose to 3.4percent

Unemployment Rate (not seasonally adjusted)

Bern, June 9, 2020 – Registered unemployment in May 2020 – According to surveys by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), 155,998 unemployed people were registered with the regional employment centers at the end of May 2020, 2,585 more than in the previous month. The unemployment rate rose from 3.3% in April 2020 to 3.4% in the reporting month. Unemployment rose by 54,628 people (+ 53.9%) compared to the same month in the previous year.

Switzerland Unemployment Rate n.s.a., May 2020

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Seasonally adjusted Unemployment Rate

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is rose to 3.4%.

Switzerland Unemployment Rate s.a., May 2020

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Number of unemployed and Job seekers

Youth unemployment in May 2020
Youth unemployment (15- to 24-year-olds) rose by 567 people (+ 3.3%) to 17,758. Compared to the same month in the previous year, this corresponds to an increase of 7,709 people (+ 76.7%).

Unemployed 50-64 years in May 2020
The number of unemployed 50-64 years increased by 654 people (+ 1.6%) to 40,890. Compared to the same month in the previous year, this corresponds to an increase of 11,811 people (+ 40.6%).

Job seekers in May 2020
A total of 232,982 job seekers were registered, 1,786 more than in the previous month. Compared to the same period in the previous year, this number rose by 56,854 people (+ 32.3%).

Reported vacancies in May 2020
On July 1, 2018, the job registration requirement for occupations with an unemployment rate of at least 8% was introduced across Switzerland, since January 1, 2020 a threshold of 5% has now been applied. The number of vacancies registered with the RAV decreased in May by 1,714 to 16,701. Of the 16,701 jobs, 1,547 were subject to mandatory reporting. Because of the corona virus and its consequences, the Federal Council has suspended the job reporting obligation from March 27, 2020 to June 7, 2020 with the «COVID-19 Ordinance on Job Reporting».

Invoiced short-time work in March 2020
In March 2020, 782,436 people were affected by short-time work, 778,388 more people than in the previous month. The number of companies affected rose by 97,205 units to 97,432. The lost working hours increased by 36,477,125 to 36,675,038 hours. In the corresponding period of the previous year (March 2019), 46,157 lost hours had been registered, which had been distributed among 706 people in 66 companies.

Levels in March 2020
According to preliminary data from the unemployment insurance funds, the number of people who had exhausted their right to unemployment benefits in the course of March 2020 was 23 people. During the period of validity of the COVID-19 regulation of unemployment insurance, all eligible persons can receive a maximum of 120 additional daily allowances.

Switzerland, Number of Employed and Number of Job Seekers, May 2020

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